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Packers Daily Links: Rodgers' Helmet Not Cracked

Despite rumors and incomplete video evidence, the Green Bay Packers are saying the helmet of quarterback Aaron Rodgers was not cracked in Sunday's game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. "A video had been circulating Monday morning that appeared to show that his helmet was cracked in the back; however, it is really just a part of Rodgers' helmet and the sticker decal, according to the Packers," writes Lori Nickel of JSOnline. "A team spokesman said there is an identical striping pattern on the other side of Rodgers' helmet, specifically." Yes, Rodgers took a few hard hits from the Jags defense, but nothing near enough to crack a helmet.

The Packers made two rather major mistakes on special teams on Sunday, in addition to a bad play call on a fake field goal attempt. "The Packers made two other mistakes on special teams – including on the biggest play of the game, when Davon House blocked a punt that Dezman Moses recovered for a touchdown," writes Jason Wilde of ESPNMilwaukee.com. "Both on that play and on a Jaguars field goal, the Packers only had 10 men on the field." These are mix-ups that simply can't happen. Luckily the Jaguars didn't recognize it and run a fake field goal or punt that could have ended up in either a first down or a touchdown.

Head coach Mike McCarthy acknowledged on Monday that running back Alex Green didn't have a very good game against the Jaguars, but remained committed to him as the starter. "McCarthy made that abundantly clear on Monday, even after Green’s third straight 20-plus carry performance yielded little yardage in Sunday’s victory over Jacksonville," writes Jason Wilde. McCarthy also said, however, that Starks will start to get more opportunities, which is certainly understandable given the average to below average production from Green the past couple weeks.

As noted by the Journal Sentinel, the Packers are tied for the NFL lead in sacks. "It helps when you have the NFL's No. 2 man in sacks, linebacker Clay Matthews (nine), but against the Jaguars linebacker Brad Jones and safety Morgan Burnett bumped up the season total," writes reporter Tom Silverstein. "They're part of an emphasis (defensive coordinator Dom) Capers has put on pressuring quarterbacks from different places with different players." Kudos to the Packers for improving an area of the team that was a weakness last season. And apart from Matthews, the credit goes primarily to Capers.

Brian Carriveau is the author of "It's Just a Game: Big League Drama in Small Town America," a member of the Pro Football Writers of America and an editor at Cheesehead TV. To contact Brian, email [email protected].

Having Cobb do it makes sense, except for the fact that he is far more likely to be injured than Masthay. WHEN Cobb gets injured, now you're shuffling one major cog in a psychologically sensitive, precision-based machine. I do not like the idea (unless they try to sneak him on the field for the occasional trick-play).

I guess I see that as you didn't like the call vs it was a bad call, but that's just semantics. Had Masthay executed, as in made the throw to Taylor (assuming he catches it), it's a first down and I'd guess that many would be applauding it.

One thing this staff does is trust its players to execute the play called, even if the call was something unique to that player. Masthay is a very good athlete and likely looked good doing this in practice.

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